Arthur Abraham: ‘I Want to Unify Before I Retire’

WBO super-middleweight champion, Arthur Abraham has stated that he wishes to attempt to unify the 168 lb division ahead of Saturday night’s fight with British challenger, Martin Murray in Hanover, Germany.

The now-35-year-old Abraham has looked reinvigorated in recent times and says that he still possesses clear goals to motivate him and keep the desire burning in what is certainly the Autumn of his long career.

“When I first started boxing, my dream was to become world champion,” he said. “I achieved this in 2005, winning the IBF middleweight title and then defended it 10 times before moving up to super middleweight and becoming a two-weight world champion.

“Now, my dream is to unify the division. I believe this would be my greatest achievement in this sport and that is what still drives me on as a boxer.”

The WBO champion must first get past Murray, who is looking to win a world title at the 4th time of asking after 3 previous tilts at 160 lbs went against him. The last of these was back in February when he extended destructive Kazakh, Gennady Golovkin, 11 rounds before eventually succumbing.

“We’ve been studying Arthur carefully and I believe I’ve got him beat,” the Oliver Harrison trained Murray said. “He is a great fighter but he’s not changed his style in years, and in my opinion, he’s not evolved.

“It’s going to be a tough fight, but I know it’s well within me to win. I won’t be leaving Germany without the title.”

Murray will be hoping to avoid the fate of countryman, Paul Smith, who was beaten twice in back to back fights against Abraham, with the winner of Saturday’s fight having to face mandatory challenger, Gilberto Ramirez early next year before any attempt at unification.

The WBA title is held by Russia’s Fedor Chudinov, the WBC by Sweden’s Badou Jack and the IBF by Britain’s James DeGale.